Hubballi 17 th July 2018 : In an effort to create the next electronics hotspot in Karnataka, beyond
Bengaluru, Shri K J George, Hon. Minister for IT/BT&ST, Large and Medium Scale industries
including Sugar, today inaugurated a Brownfield ESDM Cluster at Sandbox
Startup – Deshpande Foundation, Hubballi. The cluster aligns with the vision of the Government of
Karnataka to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in North Karnataka. The Hon. Minister also
inaugurated a Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Incubation Centre at KLE Technological
University, Hubballi. The proposed incubation centres is in line with the Government of
Karnataka’s vision to create successful entrepreneurship from incubation centres as well as create
skilled manpower.
EDSM Cluster at Sandbox Startup
Speaking at the inauguration of the EDSM Cluster at Sandbox Startup – Deshpande Foundation, Shri
K J George said, “Our vision for Karnataka is to be the global choice for innovation and technology.
This initiative reflects our continuous efforts to encourage the vibrant startup ecosystem in the
state and create skill based jobs for inclusive development. Such initiatives will ensure that
Karnataka is at the forefront of emerging technologies. The ESDM Brownfield cluster has been
established over 5,000 sq. ft. and has a fully equipped lab setup comprising of testing tools and
equipment. The objective of setting up this cluster is to host ESDM entrepreneurs and invite other
companies from surrounding areas to use the facilities at the ESDM Brownfield Clusters. The ESDM
Cluster is a logical step forward towards our conscious focus on hardware.”
North Karnataka in general and Hubballi-Dharwad in particular is emerging as one of the fast
growing technology hubs in India. The region has all the resources except the capability to produce
its own printed circuit boards (PCB), which are the building blocks of all electronic products.
Presently, local Industries who have electronic components and their products have to go to either
Pune or Bangalore for their PCB needs, which is both time consuming and adds to the cost of
product development.
“This ESDM cluster in the Hubballi-Dharwad region is to support startups and MSMEs who progress
from the incubation centress and need to expand. These companies can avail of office spaces with
plug-and-play facilities such as conference rooms, common instrumentation facilities, mentorship
etc. at a subsidized rate at the ESDM cluster. The ESDM Brownfield cluster aims a total of 10 ESDM
companies/startups in three years with specific focus on Agri tech, telecommunication and IOT
products” Shri. K J George added.
Common instrumentation facilities provided would include bare board prototype PCBs machine,
PCB Stencil Printer, Pick and Place machine and other related equipment for PCB design and
manufacturing of PCB, Testing & measuring equipment, Dust Chamber, Rain testing chamber,
Environment testing equipment, Vibration testing equipment, Video Conference equipment, DG
Set and UPS.

Sandbox Startups is a technology business incubator which provides mentorship, networking
opportunities, resources and access to funding to mission driven entrepreneurs. These
entrepreneurs test, pilot and prove their ideas/models in Sandbox. Till date, The Sandbox Startups
has supported over 30+ technology and non-technology based enterprises spread across Agritech,
IoT, F&B, 3D printing, software services amongst others. Several of these enterprises have now
reached a scale and making significant impact on the community. An employment of 500+ has been
generated through these incubated startups and contribution of about Rupees 100 crore has been
made to the economy of the region by these startups in last three years. The Sandbox Startups,
created through a unique support system, under a single umbrella with an investment of over 1
crore rupees, equips startups and companies with a dedicated IoT lab to enable IoT design
implementations, 3D printing lab with 6 printers to support Concept to design prototypes and
makers lab to support mechanical design creation.
VLSI Incubation Centre at KLE Technological University
Speaking at the inauguration of the VLSI Incubation Centre at KLE Technological University, Shri. K J
George said, “We want to create a globally competitive ecosystem in the state as the electronics
industry is estimated to touch $400 billion in the next ten years. Our aim is to leverage the
strengths of different parts of the state to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and maintain
a leadership position. We will give access to a total of fifteen incubates over three year, who will
get access to the equipment, receive mentorship, etc. Potential incubatees from the academia
would be recruited by multiple activities including “Idea Contest” and “Business Plan Competition”.
Selected incubates will have access to world class facilities, equipment and services that are
essential to convert their concepts into successful business propositions. The final goal is to churn
out 5 successful companies from the 15 shortlisted incubatees, whereas the industry average is
1 successful startup out of 10 companies.”
Incubatees will be provided with approximately 5,000 sq. ft. of space in the KLE Campus. They will
also have access to the hardware/chip design, testing and validation facility, high end EDA Tools
partnering with Mentor Graphics, Cadence, ARM… etc., remote and easier connectivity to design
tools and equipment, pan India, easily accessible state-of-the-art facility for fast prototyping and
specific ESDM requirements., access to LabView and related products and 100% power backup and
secured space.
Services available at the VLSI Incubation Centre include overall training & development for
Incubatees to create ‘Entrepreneurs’, trained, on-campus faculty, 30 fully equipped workstations,
expert guidance on intellectual property (IP) creation and registrations, skilled industry mentors for
product design, system, ESDM and VLSI, techno-commercial help for product & chip design with
validation of proof of concept, legal , administrative and accounting help, access to markets and
funds through investor networks and access to subsidies through Government policies and various
other schemes.
Over the period of the next three years, the Government of Karnataka has approved to grant an
amount of four crore rupees to each of these centres by which the ESDM Cluster and incubatees of
the VLSI Incubation centre will be self sustainable.